Bryce Harper activated, and Nationals shuffle the deck

Jun. 30, 2014
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The Associated Press

by Wayne Epps Jr, USATODAY

by Wayne Epps Jr, USATODAY

WASHINGTON - As fans collected Bryce Harper bobbleheads at the gates Monday at Nationals Park, they were finally treated to the full-size version on the field.

Harper, out 57 games due to a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, made his return to the Nationals lineup against the Colorado Rockies. And Washington has all the pieces to its opening day in tact again for the first time since, well, Opening Day.

The 21-year-old two-time All-Star finds himself right back where he left when he was injured in April: starting in left field and batting sixth.

"Being able to come in here, and be able to get back out there and play for a team that is in contention, it's a lot of fun, and I'm excited to back," Harper said.

The Nationals find themselves right in the thick of the National League East race, a half game back of the Atlanta Braves, despite a 30-27 record over the span Harper missed.

But because of where Washington finds itself in the standings, Harper said it wasn't hard to not be able to contribute, and that the rest of the team played well in his absence.

Harper played five rehab games last week ahead of his return - two with the Class A Potomac (Woodbridge, Va.) Nationals and three with the Class AA Harrisburg (Pa.) Senators, getting nine hits in 14 at-bats and hitting four home runs, including three in his rehab finale Saturday for Harrisburg.

Though originally slated to play seven rehab games, Harper said he felt he was where he needed to be after the five.

"I felt good at the plate, that's the only thing I really cared about," Harper said. "I can care less about being on base or the outfield or anything like that. That's always a process. My swing, I felt pretty good and I felt that it was where I needed to be."

Harper hurt his thumb sliding headfirst into third base on a triple against the San Diego Padres April 25. He stayed in the game for one inning before leaving. Harper was not in the lineup for the next game and was placed on the 15-day disabled list April 27 for what was called a sprained left thumb.

The injury was later revealed to be a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his thumb, and Harper had surgery April 29 to repair it.

Despite how the injury happened in the first place, Harper said he's not going to make a particular effort to slide feet-first more.

"Sliding head first is what I'm comfortable doing, and I'm going to keep doing it," Harper said.

He's also not going to wear any type of protection on his thumb when he bats.

"I'm just going to play," Harper said. "If I hurt it, I hurt it. If I blow it out, I blow it out."

Harper was appreciative of the work his teammates did over the last two months with him gone, going as far as to say that Ryan Zimmerman should stay in left field, Anthony Rendon should stay at third base and Danny Espinosa should stay at second base - the most frequent alignment for Washington recently.

"Of course you want the best hitting lineup in there," Harper said. "And I think Rendon playing third and (Zimmerman) playing left is something that's good for this team. And I think that should be what's happening."

Zimmerman filled in at left field for 25 games with Harper gone, pulling him away from his normal spot at third base, where he won a Gold Glove award in 2009 but has struggled with throws to first since injuring his right shoulder in 2012. Though Harper's return can be a spark in the lineup, it also shuffles defensive assignments.

Zimmerman will move back to third base, which he hasn't played since April 12, before missing 45 games himself with a broken right thumb. Anthony Rendon will move back to second base from third and Danny Espinosa will move from second base to the bench - for now.

Nationals manager Matt Williams stressed that the lineup is going to be fluid. Zimmerman could play first base some days, Harper may move to other spots in the outfield and Espinosa will be brought in from time-to-time.

"That's the way I have to look at it," Williams said. "I have to look at it as, 'What are we going to do tonight to win this game?' That's most important, and that's what's on my mind â?¦ If I had that crystal ball it would be great, but I don't have one."

As far as communication about the lineup, Harper said he hadn't talked to anybody about it, and found out he was playing left field from Twitter. He was also indifferent about batting sixth. Prior to his injury, Harper batted second 10 times, sixth eight times, fifth twice, fourth once and seventh once.

"I'm in the lineup, that's all that matters," Harper said. "If I had the lineup, it maybe not be the same. But he's got the lineup card, he's got the pen and that's what he's doing. So there's nothing I can do about it."

The Nationals are slated to face three-straight Rockies left-handers in this week's series, so Williams said the thought process now is to ease the left-handed hitting Harper back in.

Center fielder Denard Span said he trusts Williams' decisions about the lineup.

"He's the manager, so he's going to handle it the best way he can," Span said. "And that's bottom line, he's the boss. So however he decides to handle it, knowing him, knowing him being an ex-player, I'm pretty sure he's going to handle it as if he were the player."

In the 22 games Harper played before getting injured, he had a .289 batting average, nine RBI and just one home run in 91 plate appearances. But with at least 20 home runs and close to 60 RBI in each of his two previous seasons, the Nationals are excited about the spark he Harper could ignite for the second half of the season.

"There's no question that he's the energy guy on our team," Span said. "And whenever you get the chance to bring him back, it definitely is a plus for any ball club, especially ours."

When asked if he has any lingering discomfort in his thumb, Harper said he's fine. And he doesn't want anything to change that.

"I don't want to even answer that question, because I don't want to have any bad juju or anything like that," Harper said. "I feel good, and being able to go out there and play and being in that lineup and be able to play in front of these fans is going to be a lot of fun again."